Over £6 million in sales at Coys Blenheim Palace auction

International auctioneers Coys returned to their annual summer sale and concours in the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace achieving over £6 million in sales.

One of the highlights of the auction was the very first right-hand drive Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona coupe to be delivered new to Great Britain. This museum quality example is regarded as one of the finest original Daytonas in the world and sold for the UK record auction price of £765,640.

Chris Routledge, Managing Partner at Coys, said: “It was an exciting day for Coys with high profile cars being sold at record prices. We saw some fierce bidding for many of the cars, specially the Daytona, from all over the world, which shows the international reach of the company.”

The motor car sale on Saturday 11th July saw some important collector cars going under the hammer, including a 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’ that fetched £925,000, a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet that sold for £166,440 and a 1969 Lamborghini Islero S for £165,320.

Captain Nemo’s six-wheeled Nautilus car from Sean Connery’s adventure movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen also went under the hammer. This ‘extraordinary’ car was sold for £31,860.

Other important results included a 1962 Jaguar E-Type Series I 3.8-litre Semi-Lightweight, which sold for £222,440, a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Touring (472) for £427,400, a 1954 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT for £57,800 and a barn-find 1958 Aston Martin DB MkIII Sports Saloon Coachwork by Tickford One for £136,200.

The associated Coys Blenheim Palace Concours d’Elegance saw over 40 vehicles turning up at the palace grounds. The winners included a 1972 Porsche 914/6 of Mr Johnny Spero, which took the Coys Spirit of Motoring trophy celebrating the epitome of the motoring enthusiast, and a 1957 Bentley S1 Continental DHC of Mr Peter Fischer, which won the Churchill Trophy for the Best Car of the Day.

Other winners included a 1934 Lagonda M45 Tourer of Mr Philip Walker, which won the Coys Judges Award, a 1952 Jaguar C-Type (Mille Miglia car) of Mr Richard Frankel, which was driven to the concours and won the HRDC Essence of The Sport trophy, and a 1967 Maserati 4000 Spyder of Mr John Dugaleby, which won the Kensington Trophy for the most elegant design.

Chris Routledge said: “The standard of concours cars was exceptionally high once again and the judges had a difficult time making their decisions. There was an eclectic range of vehicles from pre-war classics to the 1972 Porsche that to us represented the epitome of the motoring enthusiast.”

Coys next auction is “43rd Oldtimer Grand Prix” at Nurburgring, Germany, on 8th August 2015.